“Giselle, honey, it’s me. Mr. Layne. You here alone?”
She was struggling against his grip and he was having trouble controlling her because he didn’t want to drop his gun.
She got free, planted a foot to run but he caught her forearm, pulled her to him and got in her face. “Giselle, calm down. Are you here alone?”
“I won’t do it again!” she cried, shaking her head, twisting her arm against his grip.
Shit.
“Honey, calm down, you’re safe. Your Dad sent me.”
“I won’t do it again! I won’t! I won’t!”
Layne yanked her close, wrapped an arm around her and backed up, keeping her close and pulling her away from the door.
“You don’t have to do it again, honey, you never have to do it again. I promise. It’s over. Never again,” he whispered.
He heard movement in the hall and so did Giselle. Her head whipped toward the door and Layne pushed her behind him and trained his gun on the door.
Slowly the door opened, Layne aimed, the door opened further then he saw Merry’s head jump in view as he cased the room then it disappeared.
Then it came back and Merry slid into the room, closing the door.
Giselle pressed into his back.
Layne dropped his gun and whispered, “Got Giselle. We need to check the upstairs is clear.”
Merry nodded.
“I’m alone,” Giselle whispered from behind him and Layne turned, dropped into a crouch and got close to her face.
“You’re alone?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Why are you here alone, Giselle?” Layne asked.
She shook her head, stepped back and ran into the bed. Her body got still and she stared at him.
“Rocky,” she whispered.
“I’ll call Roc,” Merry murmured and Layne stood.
“No, Merry, we gotta check the house. I want to make sure it’s clear before Rocky gets here.”
Merry nodded.
“I’m alone,” Giselle repeated and Layne looked down at her.
“We’re just going to check,” Layne said as he heard Merry moving through the room, opening the closet doors. “You stay here, keep that door closed, don’t go anywhere, stay quiet, yeah?”
She nodded.
Layne’s eyes moved to Merry then they moved out.
“I want eyes on this door, Merry,” Layne whispered after they closed it. “She could make a break for it.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. Somethin’ tweaked her.”
Merry nodded. “I already checked down.”
“I did too.”
“You in or out?”
“In, you’re on the door.”
Merry nodded again and Layne nodded back.
Layne opened doors and Merry didn’t leave the landing. He entered the rooms, checked closets and bathrooms and came back out.
“Clear,” he said after the last one. “Call Roc. Then call Colt.”
Merry nodded, holstered his weapon and reached for his phone.
Layne went to Giselle.
“He’s in your office,” Devin said into Layne’s ear.
Devin and Ryker picked up TJ Gaines.
“Good,” Layne replied, his eyes on Rocky who was crouched in front of Giselle and Giselle was sitting on the bed in the room he’d taken her to. He was standing with Merry and Vera out on the landing, his mother slightly removed. She was talking to Wade and Adele Speakmon, telling them their girl was safe.
Layne couldn’t hear anything from the room. All he could see was Giselle whispering and Rocky nodding.
“You get her?” Layne asked Devin.
“Not her. He was with another her. He was gettin’ a blowjob from some woman Ryker says is named Tina Blackstone. You know her?”
Tina Blackstone. Shit. Everyone knew her and everyone knew to avoid her.
But Tina Blackstone wasn’t Giselle’s age. Tina was older than Rocky.
“You sure it was Tina Blackstone?” Layne asked.
“Don’t know her, boy, but Ryker does. He called her that, she answered to it so, yeah, sure enough.”
“Tina Blackstone’s got a big fuckin’ mouth, Dev,” Layne told him.
“And your boy Ryker has a persuasive way about him, Tanner. Trust me, the bitch won’t talk.”
Well, at least that was good.
“You want us to sit on him or you want us to get him to talk?” Devin asked.
“Sit on him. Let me see what’s happenin’ here,” Layne answered. “But forward thinkin, you need to make him talk, use Ryker. Let him loose. No rules. Scare the piss out of him. He needs to be more afraid of us than that bitch he works for but no visible marks,” Layne instructed.
“Tanner,” Merry whispered and Layne’s eyes cut to him.
“You didn’t hear that,” Layne whispered back.
“We makin’ a double agent here?” Devin asked but he knew, he was clarifying.
“That bitch know we got him?” Layne asked.
“Far’s I know, no,” Devin answered.
“I’ll call when I know more. He may walk out of there in cuffs or we may need him. We need him and you can’t break him, again, he walks out of there in cuffs. You can, he’s just switched sides.”
“Oh,” Devin whispered, “we’ll break him.”
Disconnect.
Layne flipped his phone shut.
“Brother,” Merry murmured and Layne looked at him.
“We rush this, we take him down and him alone. We turn him, we get her and Rutledge.”
Merry got close. “This may have escaped you, Tanner, but we got a tweaked teenaged girl in there. Her parents are gonna blow this and you do not want your end messy.”
“I know her parents are gonna blow this, Merry, that’s because it’s blown. But if I make a mess, you gotta do what you gotta do to clean it up and you gotta keep a close eye on Rutledge if he hasn’t already disappeared. He intercepted the missing person call last night. Went to the Speakmons’ house alone then sat on it.”
Merry’s brows went up.
“Yeah, you haven’t heard about it means he didn’t share. You got a teenaged girl missin’ in this ‘burg, every cop in the Department will know and every one of them would be on the hunt. Whatever happened, they thought she was gonna blow them. He intercepted that call means he knew the Speakmons would call it in. That means he was waitin’ for it. That means somethin’ happened last night with at least Gaines, maybe the woman. He can’t hide his shit anymore, Merry. That proves he’s linked to at least Gaines. We got them both. Gaines comes in limpin’, that’s the least of your worries.”
Merry got closer, “I want Rutledge out now.”
“I got no problem with her losin’ her protection,” Layne returned. “But you call it out now, you have to open an investigation. You got dirt, he’ll need to explain, boys’ll be lookin’ over their shoulders, whisperin’ but that shit takes a long time, Merry. And he’ll bolt but, like I said, he could have already bolted. You hold out, we get what she’s got on him, he’s never seen again.”
“Then no investigation, I’m just swingin’ my ass out on this right alongside yours, brother. I want him just as tweaked as that girl is in there,” Layne studied him and Merry nodded. “Yeah, brother, I heard her.” He leaned in closer and his voice dropped lower. “I fuckin’ heard her.”
“Means you could get dead and I could get dead,” Layne whispered back.
“His desk is beside mine,” Merry hissed.
Jesus, the Merricks.
“Patience, Garrett.” Layne kept whispering.
“She said, ‘I won’t do it again,’.” Merry reminded him.
“Patience, brother. We’re close.”
“I want this done,” Merry repeated his sister’s words of that morning.
Layne leaned to an inch away from his friend. “I do to, Merry but cool it. Let’s see what she has to say. Then we’ll decide the way to play it.”